


Shawdow Lands

by linda92595



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Hermaphrodites, M Preg, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-10
Updated: 2013-01-10
Packaged: 2017-11-25 00:25:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/633147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linda92595/pseuds/linda92595
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bobby Singer and his son Dean are hunters in humankind's war against demons. John Winchester and his son Sam are Shadowen—magical beings who chose to aid humans in the war against the demons. Can these beings from different sides of the supernatural world come together?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shawdow Lands

The glade was deep, secluded, far into the forest, and John felt at peace here. He and his only child, Sam, had fled the demons that invaded the Shadow Lands after the humans had opened the gates of hell. John knew that the human hunters often came to these woods because of the ley lines that they used to draw power from for their incantations. Humans were not intrinsically magic like Shadowen, something that was a never ending source of amazement for John's son. He sighed; the boy was becoming far too fascinated by human beings.

 

John had desperately tried to find Sam a mate, but the Shadow folk were far flung after the demon attacks, and John despaired of ever finding another suitable Shadowen for his son. Especially since John was coming into his time to be bred again and soon would be desperate to find a mate of his own. He and his son were bearers, male in appearance like all Shadowen but capable of giving birth to children. John grumbled under his breath. He was desperate enough to think about finding a human male for Sam, but not so desperate himself. John was close enough to coming into season that a Shadowen male could easily track him down.  Just as Sam's father had done.

 

A frown crossed John's features when he thought of his fallen mate. Sam's father had been killed when the baby was just six months old, murdered by a demon. John had been tracking the thing for twenty years, but was no closer to finding that particular demon. Along the way John had raised his son in seclusion away from the war. But he tried to aid the humans in their fight wherever he could. He could sympathize with the humans who came to this place and occasionally used his own magic to supplement the spells they tried to cast.

 

Far in the distance John could just make out the tall, lanky form of his son walking on the path. He smiled; Sam was so like his father that it was both a blessing and a curse for John. Rising he brushed the dirt and leaves from his trousers, walking toward his son.

 

"Sam," he smiled and the younger male ran the last few steps. Grabbing John by the shoulders Sam clasped him in a hug.

 

"Guess what I saw, Mother?" Sam said excitedly. John pretended to frown but Sam's enthusiasm was infectious and he smiled again.

 

"Let me guess, humans?"

 

Nodding Sam tugged John's arm dragging him a way down the path before his parent shook him off and sped up to Sam's lengthier stride. They made their way down the path toward a large clearing on the shore of the crystal blue lake. The midday sun glinted on the water making tiny rainbows shimmer in the air. John took a deep breath enjoying the scent of the cool, clear water.

 

On the shore were two human men, one older and one younger. The older man was dressed in denim jeans and a flannel shirt and on his  head was what John had come to understand was a baseball cap, baseball being some kind of human sport. The younger man was dressed in jeans as well and a brown leather jacket. The younger man had light colored hair, a bit more blonde than the older man and clear green eyes. He was beautiful by human standards, John was certain.  Beautiful by his people's standards as well. He looked promising as a prospective mate for Sam, who was just getting old enough to breed for the first time.

 

John and Sam both huddled in the shadows listening to the two men talk.

 

Bobby sighed watching as his son carefully poured the powdered limestone on the dirt in quick even strokes. Dean was adept at drawing sigils, Bobby had made sure of that, and he was glad. The spell they were trying to cast was a difficult one. Bobby sighed. He wished that some of the Shadow people were about; if they were inclined to make contact, possibly trade, then they could add a little magic boost to the location spell. Help Bobby and Dean find the demon they were tracking.

 

"Okay, Dean, you're doing fine. I think that we can set the candles out and get ready to mix the herbs and oil. I sure wish we could locate some of the Shadowen, they really could help us out."

 

Dean shrugged.

 

"Dad, how do you even know that there are any Shadow people left? The demons were really set on getting rid of them, wiped a lot of them out. I'll bet that there aren't more than a couple of dozen left all over the country."

 

John flinched; it was worse than he feared, and if the Shadowen were that spread out how could he possibly find a mate for Sam or for himself for that matter? And John did not want to die because he could not breed. He was close, no more than days from coming into season. Casting a calculating glance at the two men in the clearing John wondered if the older man would react to his scent the way a Shadowen male would.

 

"Sam go back to the cabin," he hissed.

 

Sam cast a sideways glance at his mother then glared.

 

"I want to stay and watch the humans."

 

John shrugged his son off.

 

"Do as I told you. I want you away from here."

 

"Can't we at least help then with the spell?" Sam persisted.

 

"I'll help them if you go home. Please, if they are intent on locating a demon it won't be safe for us here. You heard what they said; the demons have been killing Shadowen."

 

John watched as Sam nodded briefly then retreated to the tree-line walking into the shadows so that he could transport back to the cabin they called home. Sam turned, waving at his mother then slid into the shadows fading from view almost instantaneously. Satisfied that his son was safe knowing that once Sam slid into the in-between space that Shadowen used for transport that even a demon could not track him John turned back to the humans. Taking a deep breath he slid out of the shadows and crept quietly down to the lakeshore.

 

The older man caught sight of him first, stepping back a pace waiting in shocked silence for John to approach. Smiling the older man held up a hand when his son made a sudden movement toward John and the Shadowen paused.

 

"It's okay Dean. He's not gonna hurt anyone."

 

Then Bobby gasped, taking a deep breath; the rich, honey-sweet scent coming off the Shadowen sent a spike of arousal coursing through him. A breeder then, and close to coming into heat. Glancing over at his son Bobby blushed, Dean was feeling it the same as him, although he probably didn't understand it like his old man did. From the look on Dean's face though, he was mighty uncomfortable with reacting to what he thought was another man the way he was. Bobby grinned; they'd have to have a talk.

 

John paused a few paces way from the men, careful not to smudge the lines of the sigil the younger man had drawn on the dirt. He recognized the symbol, a tracer. They were looking for a demon. He spoke enough English so that he could converse with them, but was still a little uncertain of how to proceed.

 

Bobby eased forward and the Shadowen held his place. Smiling Bobby took in his appearance noting the dark brown hair curling around his face and neck, a hint of dark stubble and wisps of hair peeking out of the low collar of his tunic. He would say the other man was fortyish but that was deceiving. He could be anywhere from forty to a hundred years old and look the same, still, this one was young enough to breed so he was betting forty was about right.

 

"Hi, uhh… how're doing? We sure could use your help if you're willing to trade."

 

"Trade?" John repeated, feeling a little more on solid ground. He often traded with the local farmers for food for himself and Sam or clothing since weaving was not a skill either of them possessed. His gift seemed more to the humans' liking anyway. Looking up so that he could still keep tabs on both humans John bent down and picked up a few pebbles from the ground. Taking a deep breath he rubbed both palms together around the stones feeling the heat of friction as the crystalline structure of the minerals changed. When he extended his palm the quartz had become diamonds and the steely gray slate had changed to gold nuggets.

 

Dean raised an eyebrow.

 

"That's impressive, are they real?"

 

Bobby hushed his son with a glare.

 

"Of course they're real. And it's too bad too, because a gift like that makes him really valuable to unscrupulous people."

 

Nodding, Bobby took the stones, and then held out a hand in invitation offering whatever the Shadowen wanted in exchange.  John stepped forward fingers lingering on Dean's arm. He flushed, he couldn't tell the man he wanted his son for a mate for his child so he let his eyes drop to the thing wrapped around the younger man's wrist. It had a thick black leather strap and some kind of mechanical thing, the round face, white with black spots, and two little silver levers sweeping the surface. John couldn't read English but he was familiar enough with the thing to know humans used it to tell time.

 

Dean flinched.

 

"Dad, it wants my watch."

 

"He," Bobby snapped. "He… not it, and give it to him. He just gave you about five hundred dollars worth of diamonds and gold."

 

Grumbling under his breath Dean unfastened the watch and held it out to the Shadowen. A faint smile crossed his face as John lifted his arm and Bobby took the watch out of his son's hand. John stepped closer to the older man and Bobby was hit by the scent wafting off him. His dick hardened again, so hard in fact that he felt a little wet spot forming on the front of his jeans. John looked up, and Bobby felt himself sinking into those huge green eyes framed by incredibly long thick lashes.  He wanted to pull the other man into his arms, rub against him until he was covered in that rich honey-sweet scent. Only the fact that his son was standing right beside him kept Bobby from doing just that. He stepped away motioning to the sigil and John frowned.

 

"What you want to do is dangerous. Why should I help you?"

 

"So you do speak English," Bobby said with a quick grin then he turned to the sigil on the ground. "Please, we've been tracking this demon for years since my son was a baby. It killed my wife, and almost killed Dean."

 

"How?" John asked.

 

Bobby winced.

 

"When Dean was six months old there was a fire in our house. My wife, I found her pinned to the ceiling burning. The demon must have come for Dean. We've been hunting it ever since."

 

John swallowed licking his lips nervously.

 

"My mate died like that as well. When my son was six months old. Do you think this is the same demon?"

 

Bobby shrugged.

 

"I don't know, it's possible but I know that demons have been killing your people. You're the only magical beings who sided with humans in the war, so the demons are bent on killing as many of you as they can. Help me find this one."

 

Carefully John knelt down.

 

"What do you need?"

 

"Your people are much better at interpreting visions than humans. Will you give us your blood for the spell then come back and tell me if you actually have a vision. My son and I are staying here at the lake; we have a camp site not too far from here so we can meet again in a few days."

 

Nodding John bent down over the pewter bowl on the center circle of the symbol. Dean lit the candles marking the four compass points and handed the Shadowen the silver dagger he carried in a sheath under his shirt. John slashed the blade across his palm and held a hand up letting his blood drip into the green paste of herbs and oil. When he judged that there was sufficient blood in the bowl he flicked a fingertip at the potion and it erupted in flames. 

 

Suddenly the bright afternoon sunlight faded and John was struck by an image, some dark place, a room in a human dwelling or a building. A dark figure stood in the room, short, sandy-haired, dressed plainly. The man whirled as if he knew that John was looking at him. He smiled raising a hand in a cheerful wave, John gasped staggering back.

 

His back came into abrupt contact with the older man and both of them gasped. John could feel the hard length of flesh between the human's legs digging into the soft mound of his buttock. He exhaled in a long sigh, his body ached to be filled by that flesh, and he rubbed his thighs together briefly before he became aware of what he was doing.

 

Bobby slid his hand over the Shadowen's thigh gripping his hip bone beneath the thin silk trousers he was wearing. One hand came up pressing against John's chest, just feeling the slight curve of a small, hard breast. Embarrassed he dropped his hand and stepped away.

 

John moaned from the loss of the contact. His body was aching, empty and he knew without a doubt that this human was a good man, of a good heart. A good prospect if he would take a Shadowen for a mate, accept a half-breed child. Decided John slipped away.

 

"I will return here each day at this same time, and let you know if I have had a vision of where the yellow eyed demon is. I saw a brief flash, but nothing that tells me his whereabouts. Wait here for me tomorrow."

 

John slipped back to the shadows wanting to go on about his chores. He still needed to make his weekly trip to the local farms to trade for food for him and Sam. Although they hunted and fished for meat and found wild vegetables both he and his son had acquired a taste for certain foods that did not grow wild. At first he had began taking the vegetables and fruits from the gardens and fields of the human farmers, leaving precious gems and gold in their place. Once the farmers realized that John would trade these things they began leaving baskets of food out for the Shadowen and his son. He slid into the shadows and transported, fading from view in seconds.

 

On the shore of the lake Dean and his father watched as John disappeared from sight. Dean stood staring at the vacant spot where the Shadowen had been.

 

"Well, that's really convenient. I wonder if he could teach us how to do that."

 

Bobby smiled clapping his son on the shoulder.

 

"Come on we can go back to the campsite and rustle up some lunch. That's not something they can teach, they just do it. That's why they're the Shadow people."

 

 

John slid out of the shadows beneath the old oak tree that stood in the yard of the human farmer he knew was called Bill Harvelle. Bill was a tall, broad shouldered man with blond hair going gray at the temple. His wife was named Ellen. She made cakes and bread, both of which Sam loved, and usually put them in the basket that they set out for John. He appeared in the yard stepping out of the shadows into the sunlight and came face to face with a young blond woman. She was a few years younger than Sam and very pretty, her long golden hair done up in twin pony-tails. John knew that she called them that because he had asked her. She was friendly to him even if her parents were a bit more reserved.

 

Jo smiled, bouncing forward when John appeared. She placed the overflowing basket on the tree stump that was its customary resting place. John reached down picking up a large number of stones and rubbed them between his palms. He held them out to her and she cupped both hands taking the pile of gems and gold. John looked at Bill trying to judge of it was enough, and the human smiled.

 

The girl looked down at the pile of gems in her hands and frowned. John blinked looking at the young woman's father again.

 

"Is it not enough?"

 

"Oh no," she said quickly not wanting to upset the Shadowen. Although he had never been aggressive her father was always cautious about dealing with non-human beings.

"It's actually probably too much. I was just hoping there would be a blue stone. My father said I could have one to make a necklace."

 

He wasn't sure what a necklace was but it seemed as if it was important to the girl. John studied the ground and found a large piece of silver quartz. It should make a blue stone of some kind. He picked it up and pressed the quartz between his palms. It took a bit more effort to smooth the edges and make it come out the right color but in the end he held out a large deep blue gem, roughly pear shaped and sparkling in the late afternoon sun.

 

The girl's eyes went wide and she gasped.

 

"Can you wait; I'll ask Mom for something else to trade. Please…"

 

Cocking his head John offered it to her.

 

"A gift."

 

Jo uttered a shrill little scream and clasped John in a hug. He flinched, having only touched one other human being, the hunter at the lakeshore. But the girl's parents didn't seem offended so he stood still until she released him watching silently as she scurried over to the farmer with her prize.

 

The three humans stood on the front steps on their house watching as the Shadowen gathered up the basket of food and walked back to the tree-line fading into the shadows. Jo was always amazed when he did that, and wondered if they all could do it. They didn't notice that their two hired men, Gordon Walker and Ash Spencer, were standing in the yard just off to the side of the house. If Bill had seen the calculating looks on the two younger men's faces he would have been disturbed, and more careful to warn the Shadowen when he came the next time.

 

 

Sam was standing outside the cabin waiting for his mother's return. John was probably long finished helping the human hunters and well on his way to trading with the farmer across the valley. Sam was bored with staying at the cabin; he had eaten midday meal and was sure that John would be a while yet before he returned. The Harvelle's farm was farther away than the lake and even transporting it took some time to make the way back.

 

Casting one last mournful glance at his home Sam walked across the brightly lit yard to the row of oak trees and slipped silently into the shadows. He came out just on the opposite side of the lake near the campgrounds that humans frequented. He could see a large tent, with a fire pit and two mechanical contraptions that humans used for transportation beside it. Sam knew they were called vehicles although Shadowen had no use for the things since they could transport themselves through the shadows.

 

Taking a deep breath Sam slid out of the shadows and walked a little way toward the camp site. The older man that his mother had spoken too was not there but the younger man was. He looked up when Sam appeared out of the darkening gloom, watching silently as the younger man approached him.

 

Dean rose from his seat placing the gun he was cleaning on the chair waiting patiently as the Shadowen came close to him. Sam paused a few feet away smiling tentatively. Dean looked up at the tall, lanky young man.

 

"Hi…I'm Dean Singer."

 

Sam nodded. "Sam Winchester."

 

"Oh so you can speak our language too. Your father…"

 

"My father is dead," Sam corrected the human with a slight frown. Dean shrugged.

 

"Sorry, I thought the older man you were with was your father."

 

"Man?" Sam asked. "Do you mean my mother, John?"

 

"He's your mother? That's weird."

 

Sam snorted. "Not for me."

 

Dean could see the annoyance in the younger man's face and quickly tried to smooth things over.

 

"So your mother, John…do all your people look like men?"

 

Sam shrugged. "I suppose so. We can tell the difference. My father was male, my mother and I are bearers. There are differences that Shadowen know, maybe humans just aren't as discerning."

 

Grinning, Dean nodded. "I guess you're right. That makes me feel better actually 'cause when your uh...mother was here earlier I got…well I thought that I was getting hot for a man."

 

"Hot?" Sam echoed frowning. "Oh, because my mother is coming into season you were aroused sexually. We weren't sure that human men would react that way. I'll have to tell him it is so. Was your father aroused as well?"

 

Dean choked coughing then wiping his nose on the sleeve of his shirt.

 

"Uh…I didn't really notice."

 

Sam looked at the gun on the chair.

 

"Do you hunt demons professionally? I know that some humans do."

 

"Yeah, me and my dad are bounty hunters. We hunt demons for money, demons and other things people are willing to pay good money to get rid of," Dean said, feeling a little embarrassed, but the Shadowen didn't look offended.

 

"Do you think they would pay you to hunt my people?"

 

Flinching, Dean eased closer to the younger man, being? Sam was taller than him by a good few inches and well built. His eyes were the same warm, rich hazel as his mother although his hair was not quiet so brown. He smiled and Dean felt his chest heave. There was a faint sweet scent coming off the Shadowen, nothing as noticeable as his mother but it was there.  Looking up at the wide hazel eyes Dean felt himself drawn to the younger man. He reached out gently gripping Sam's neck pulling him forward letting their lips meet.

 

The Shadowen was sure that this pressing the lips together had some significance for humans but it was not something that his people did; still it was pleasant enough so he turned his head so that the human had better access. Dean leaned back smiling.

 

"I’m guessing that you never kissed anyone before."

 

Sam latched onto the word.

 

"Kiss is that what it is called?"

 

 

Later that evening Sam was back at the cabin waiting for John's return. He heard the familiar footfalls on the porch before his mother opened the door. Sam rose from his chair and hurried to help John unload the heavy baskets in the pantry. They would take the empty baskets back tomorrow for the next trip that John would make. He looked at his son who was quietly working on a drawing, a picture of the younger human man they had seen today. John stood looking down over Sam's shoulder then smiled.

 

"Do you find him physically pleasing?"

 

Sam nodded smiling, "Yes, and he seems like a good person."

 

"Good, I have considered approaching his father about him becoming your mate. You will be old enough to breed soon."

 

"But what about you? Your need is greater than mine."

 

John smiled a little slyly.

 

"I have decided that his father will be my mate."

 

"The man is willing?" Sam asked, and John shrugged.

 

"He is, even if he doesn't know it yet. Tomorrow when I go to report about the vision, if I have one, I will be fully in season. Things will go from there."

 

"When we were there earlier Dean, the son, was aroused by your scent. I think it was probably the same for his father. He'll mate with you."

 

John settled in a chair patting the chair beside him.

 

"I hope that you don't feel badly about a new child coming."

 

Sam rolled his eyes.

 

"Mother I am not a child anymore. I'm glad for a new sibling, but I am a little worried about helping you deliver. It scares me."

 

"It’s nothing. I dropped you like a cow dropping a calf. Your father didn't even have time to transport from the lakeshore before you were out, washed and nursing." John patted his thigh. "Besides if things go well with the hunter he may stay with us until the baby is born."

 

 

The sunlight glittered off the water as Bobby stood on the shore waiting for the Shadowen to appear. Even expecting the other man he was still startled when all of a sudden John was standing in the edge of the shadows just beneath the tree-line. He smiled and Bobby's chest hitched in a relieved sigh.

 

They were alone on the shore, not a soul in sight and nothing moved. John felt a brief stab of disquiet as he slowly made his way down the grassy slope to the warm shoreline. When he got to the spot where the remains of the sigil still marred the soft warm earth he offered the hunter a smile.

 

"I'm sorry but I did not have a vision last night. I saw a brief flash yesterday when the ritual was performed, a dark room in a human structure but nothing that was really identifiable as a location. He knows that you are looking though, so I'd be very careful."

 

Bobby nodded.

 

"You know you speak our language very well. Much better that the other Shadowen that I've met."

 

"So you have dealt with my people before."

 

"Yeah, traded mostly. You're the first breeder I've met," Bobby said, feeling a jump in his pulse when the other being slid near to him. The rich scent, more evident, invaded Bobby's senses leaving him reeling. He gasped as his dick went stone-hard; licking his lips Bobby eased closer. John could see the change in expression that overcame the human hunter and knew that he was caught in John's scent.

 

Bobby reached out a hand, stroking a thumb over the thin scar that bisected the Shadowen's right cheek.  Closing his eyes John leaned into the man's touch. Bobby slid his arm down the silk clad shoulder then pulled John to him. Their chests met, John was a bit taller than him, but Bobby was heavier and he used his greater weight to wrestle the Shadowen to the ground.

 

His fingers tangled in the drawstring of John's trousers but Bobby managed to get them undone and off the long lean legs. John grasped Bobby's shoulders rubbing his cheek against the hunter's cheek as was customary for his people, but Bobby turned his head running his lips over the scarred cheek and leaning in for a kiss. He worked John's lips apart delving inside and sighed when the Shadowen trembled.

 

Quickly pushing the tunic up Bobby kissed his way down John's chest suckling in a pink nipple. Groaning John thrust up until Bobby slid his tongue over the John's breast and down the flat planes of his abdomen. He raked the wet little muscle through the whorls of hair and into the thick dark nest of curls at John's center. He expected a hard, hungry cock to bump his chin was surprised beyond belief when he found the soft wet folds of flesh, that parted under his tongue.

 

Moaning John tried to push the hunter away for a few moments so that he could roll over, rise to his hands and knees. He was wet, ready for Bobby's cock but doubted the human understood the intricacies of his body, or knew that Shadowen customarily mated with the male entering from behind while the bearer rested on his knees. But the human bore down on him keeping John on his back, open and vulnerable unable to move away if the

mating became too violent. John struggled and Bobby seized his wrists pressing them to the ground, holding him in place while he thrust up and in.

 

John gasped his eyes rolling back in his head with the sudden invasion. Then he moaned at the sensation of being filled with the hard length of throbbing flesh. Grunting Bobby pressed his face into the curve of John's neck biting down, and John cried out in his own language begging the human to take him and own him, but also to give him the freedom to mate in his own chosen way.

 

Bobby didn't understand the words that his lover was uttering, but the sounds were beautiful in his ears. He thrust his hands under John's buttocks pulling him up off the ground then rolled, bringing John up and over him.

 

Freed from the subservient and frightening position under the human man John rose up his lean thighs pumping fiercely, bringing him to completion. He cried out as his orgasm washed over him in searing waves. Bobby gasped, the powerful contractions of John's body wringing his own orgasm out of him.

 

John collapsed against Bobby's chest, body shuddering with aftershocks. He sighed, breathing in the clean warm scent of male sweat and the faint aroma of the man's semen inside his body. He was sure he had conceived.

 

Bobby stroked his hands over the trembling body lying on his chest. With a sigh he considered the situation. He was pretty much stuck here, not that he cared. The Shadowen was good-looking, and a great lay. And from everything he had read Bobby was fairly certain he had just gotten John pregnant. Well, he might not have been looking for it, but it looked like Bobby had just gotten himself hitched again.

John lay on the warm soft soil at the lakeshore. He was half-dressed, sweaty and drowsing lazily. Bobby hauled himself up-right, tugging his jeans back up. Quickly he pulled John's trousers over shaking the grass and soil off the whisper-soft material. John sighed tugging the pants over his feet finally tying the strings, and then he slid over onto his back blinking.

 

"Come on," Bobby said offering the Shadowen his hand. "We need to have a talk about all this."

 

"No we don't," John said, lazily, but Bobby shook his head. Pulling the other man to his feet he frowned when John seemed unsteady,

 

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

 

John settled back onto the ground closing his eyes. He looked up at the human man, his mate, offering him a tentative smile.

 

"I have been in the sunlight too long. If we sit in the shadows for a little while, I'll be better. My people cannot be in the light too long; even artificial lights can make us ill."

 

"You should have told me, we would have moved sooner. I don't want anything to hurt you or the baby."

 

Bobby hauled John to his feet wrapping an arm around his waist and maneuvering him into the cool shadows just under an older oak tree. They settled back down John still blinking sleepily. Clearing his throat Bobby looked over at the Shadowen.

 

"Umm, you are pregnant aren't you?"

 

"If you are fertile then yes. If not I'll come into season again in a few days."

 

Puffing up his chest Bobby frowned.

 

"What do you mean if I'm fertile, of course I am! So I'm thinking this makes us married?"

 

"Married?" John asked. "You mean pair-bonded? By my people's laws yes. But it is not binding on humans. You owe me nothing, my son can help me deliver when the times comes. I don't expect anything more than you've already given me."

 

Frowning again Bobby sighed. Of course John would want to assure the human that he was free to walk away, but Bobby was the baby's father and he felt a duty to provide for the life he had helped create. He seized on the one thing John had said that he could use.

 

"So according to Shadowen law you’re my…wife?"

 

John smiled, amused. "Do I look like a wife? According to my people you and I are bound, equals under the law. But in effect you are my spouse, husband… I suppose your people would say. If you chose to enforce the rights given to you under the pair-bond."

 

"Then I'm doing just that, so what do we do now?"

 

Smiling, John rose to his knees. "You are of my clan now, my people are your people, not that we are many. As I am yours."

 

"So when me and Dean leave here and go back to Durham you'll go with me? And Sam too, I wouldn't want you to have to leave your son. But we may have a problem, my son is sort of interested in Sam and now I think they're brothers."

 

"In name but not in blood so they can pair bond if it happens. My people are a little more relaxed about that sort of thing."

 

They sat in the cool shade of the tree, Bobby casting occasional glances at the Shadowen, the man who was now his partner. Cocking his head he looked at John's still flat belly wondering what the other man would look like heavy with the baby inside him. He sighed again, he was fifty-six and this put a crimp in his itinerant existence with only Dean beside him. They would have to go back to Durham; to the small house his parents had left him.

 

Bobby's parents had been hunters as well although back in the day, when he was young, most people didn't realize that demons and the like truly existed. Now that the Gates of Hell had been opened and several hundred demons were running around the world, hunters had come out of the background and were openly plying their trade. Still, with a baby on the way he had more responsibilities than to the hunt.

 

He looked up as movement in the shadows behind them caught his attention. John's son appeared fading into view. He settled down on the ground beside them, leaning against older Shadowen's side, John brushed his fingers through Sam's long hair smiling. Sam stared deeply into his mother's eyes then smiled.

 

"You're pregnant," he whispered and Bobby felt a swelling of pride.

 

John noticed the human's puffed up look when Sam made his pronouncement and grimaced. This one was going to actually want to enforce all aspects of the pair-bonding, raise the child together. In a way John was relieved, he had chosen well. In another way he was uneasy, he had not had a mate since Sam's father had died, he wasn't sure he was ready to let go and make a life with another male. John could feel Sam shifting beside him, knew that his son was picking up every emotion he was experiencing. That was Sam's gift, his empathy and the ability to heal with a touch.

 

Bobby offered the younger Shadowen an awkward grin.

 

"Hi I'm Bobby. I guess I'm your step-dad now that me and your mother are hitched."

 

Sam's eyes widened.

 

"Hitched?" he echoed, and John nodded.

 

"He means pair-bonded."

 

"Ahh," Sam said with a small nod. "So you are going to take my mother to your home."

 

"We're taking you too, if you want to go. I wouldn't separate the two of you," Bobby said quickly trying to reassure the younger man. 

 

Sam relaxed at that, smiling shyly at the human man. Bobby cleared his throat motioning to the truck.

 

"Me and Dean are going into town to get something to eat in a little while. Will you two come with us?"

 

John looked a little uneasy but Sam smiled broadly. He and his mother had led a solitary existence in the forest, trading only with the local farmers and had never been to the human cities surrounding the rural areas. John noticed the gleam in his son's eyes and knew it would be impossible to convince the younger man that it was not a wise idea. He sighed, but decided that since he was bound to a human man he would have to become accustomed to the human way of doing things.

 

 

The trip to the city was terrifying for John. He was fastened into the seat of the black vehicle that Bobby called a pick-up truck while Sam rode in the thing that Dean called his car. The contraptions were as mystifying to John as his ability to travel through shadows seemed to be to the humans. John didn't like the truck, it was loud and the sensation of floating over the ground on the big wheels made John feel sick to his stomach.  He was also terrified for Sam as he watched the big black car speed over the roadway flinging gravel and dirt in its wake.

 

The first stop that they made when they reached the city was to a mall. Which seemed to be a huge brick structure that served no other purpose but satisfying the human need to consume resources. John hated it instantly. Bobby led them inside and John noticed that most of the humans in the mall stared at him and Sam, openly curious. Of course, the fact that both he and his son were dressed in the flowing silk garments they found comfortable and had bare feet made them easily identifiably as non-human beings.

 

With a smile Bobby motioned the two Shadowen into the store. John glanced at him with a frown creasing his forehead. Bobby noticed his new mate's reluctance and gently took his arm.

 

"I think the clothes that you and Sam wear are beautiful, but they mark you as non-humans. That might not be the safest thing in every situation. I hate to make you feel uncomfortable but while we are in public, at least in the city, you'll be safer in human clothes."

 

Nodding John watched as his son literally ran into the shop dragging Dean behind him. John walked in more slowly. They wandered the aisles for over an hour, taking clothing into the back and trying it on, and in the end John and Sam came out of the store dressed in heavy denim jeans, t-shirts and thick soled hiking boots.

 

John surveyed the thick cloth brushing his hand over his thigh. The denim was stiff, and didn't breathe the way his silk trousers had. The clothes were hot, and unwieldy and horribly uncomfortable. That wasn't even taking into account the thick socks and leather boots. John had never worn shoes and his feet ached with every step he took. Being human was definitely more complicated than he had imagined.

 

He tugged at the crotch of his jeans and Bobby flushed.

 

"John you can't touch yourself that way. Not in public, people are staring at you. Besides I told you that you needed underwear."

 

"If humans did not wear such stiff, ugly clothing they wouldn't need to wear clothes under their clothes."

 

"Well, when we get to the hotel you can change back into your other clothes, or go without. I wouldn't mind that." Bobby grinned brushing a hand over John's buttock.

 

John blushed. He hadn't been sure that humans engaged in sex for purposes other than procreation, now it appeared that Bobby intended that they engage in pleasuring each other.

 

Sam and Dean followed along behind their parents Dean smiling at Sam's hunger to take in every thing they saw. He smiled at the human male.

 

"I have always wanted to see a human city. I have not been to the Shadow Lands since I was very small. The demons came when the humans opened the Gates of Hell and the land was not safe. My mother took us to an abandoned cabin in the forest near the human farms to be safe. Especially after the demon killed my father and almost took me away."

 

Dean nodded.

 

"My dad took up hunting when my mother was killed. I've always wanted to see one of your people. My dad told me all about the Shadow People. I know that some of your people sided with the demons, but most of them helped humans. My dad said a lot more humans would have died in the first battles if the Shadowen hadn't used their gifts to save them."

 

Sam looked away embarrassed but pleased by the man's praise. His people had aided humans because they felt a kinship with them. As if humans might have been like the Shadowen once, had they had not clung to science and technology instead of magic. With a sigh the younger man leaned against Dean's strong arm. He felt a thrill of pleasure course through his body, a heat that uncoiled from his belly and slid down to the center of his legs. Rubbing his thighs together Sam flinched when the heat flared, curling tight into his gut.

 

 

Later that night John was sitting on one of the beds in the hotel room that Bobby had rented for the boys for the night, talking to Sam as they prepared for bed. John smiled carding his fingers through Sam's hair. Flushing he glanced at the closed bathroom door where Dean was showering.

 

"I should have had this talk with you long before now. I know that you will be ready to breed yourself soon. But I wanted to protect you, keep you a child just a bit longer. I know that you touch yourself with your fingers…"

 

A crimson stain spread over the younger man's face but John merely held up a hand, smiling gently.

 

"There is no shame in it. I do it as well. Now that you are old enough to mate with a male you should understand the mechanics."

 

"Mother, I know what to do…I've seen animals and even humans mating."

 

Shaking his head John let his eyes close.

 

"It's not just mating. When you take your mate into yourself it is so good. I can not think of any greater pleasure. I loved your father very much. I hope that I can love this human man just as much. He is a good man, I know that. And he wants the child I carry when he could have walked away. I only hope that you can find that kind of love, maybe with this young man Dean. If he is as good a man as his father it will be well. He may come to you tonight, but don't feel that you have to do this for me. It is for you and him alone. Do you understand?"

 

Sam nodded.

 

"I understand. Today when we were walking he would touch my hand and I felt a hot and cold all together. I felt heat inside me."

 

John smiled, leaning forward and brushing a kiss over his son's cheek.

 

"I think that you may be closer than I thought."

 

"Closer to breeding?" Sam asked.

 

Shaking his head John whispered, "Closer to falling in love."

 

The water in the bathroom shut off and John climbed to his feet walking to the door and pulling it close behind him, entering the adjoining room. He turned around surveying the room; Bobby was already tucked into the bed reading a book. The single lamp was turned low, and the overhead lights were off leaving the corners of the room shrouded in shadow. John smiled understanding that his mate had done this for him, to make him feel more secure. Quietly John stripped off the heavy human garments crawling naked onto the bed, keeping his distance. Bobby looked, drinking in the sight of his mate's long lean body, and all that smooth olive skin. He grinned patting the bed beside him and John curled into his side like some giant cat.

 

"Damn, but ain't you good looking," Bobby said, leaning in for a kiss. John bit his own lip then turned his head, meeting his mate half-way, pressing their lips together. Bobby's breath was warm, scented slightly with the coffee he had consumed with dinner.  John licked at his lips letting his tongue flick quickly inside. The human rose up, grasping John's arms and tugging him forward until he was sitting astride his mate's hips. He gasped, feeling the thick length of Bobby's cock digging into his belly. John shuddered, the evidence of his mate's arousal all that he needed to let his inhibitions flow free, he was hot inside and dripping his own juices onto his legs. Rising up John pushed the bedcovers down Bobby's thighs and slid forward.

 

Bobby groaned as his cock slid inside John's body. The heat was incredible, the tight walls gripping his flesh. John rose up on his knees rocking a little until he found the perfect angle and he moaned. Bobby dropped his hands from John's hips to his thighs letting his palms ride the smooth taut muscles that flexed under his touch. John set a quick pace that had Bobby panting and cussing under his breath. And when John cried out, head snapping back and strong fingers clenching on Bobby's arms the human groaned out loud. He grabbed John's hips lifting him up and slamming his down  until Bobby shot his load of thick cream deep inside John's body.

 

 

Dean grinned at the young Shadowen on the bed across from his when he heard the rattle of the headboard on his father's bed rapping against the wall. That and the moaning coming from inside the room left nothing to the imagination. Well, it sounded like his father was getting laid good and hard. If Sam understood the significance of the sounds he didn't show it. Finally Dean leaned over.

 

"Sound like they're having a good time."

 

Nodding the Shadowen smiled.

 

"Yes my mother said it was very pleasurable… making love."

 

"I think my dad is lucky. You know that he found John…your mother. I think they'll be good together. Are all your people beautiful…like you and John?"

 

Sam cocked his head blushing.

 

"You think that I am beautiful?"

 

Dean smiled. "Yeah, I do."

 

"I always thought that I was too tall, taller than my mother, even taller than my father or at least that's what mother says. My father was half-human, did you know that? But he had great gifts…all our people do."

 

"Oh yeah, what kind of gifts?"

 

"Oh you've seen my mother's gift, changing the structure of minerals. He can make all precious gems and metals with a touch. It is very convenient for trading with other beings, especially humans since these things have greater value for your people than mine."

 

"What gift do you have?"

 

Sam shrugged.

 

"I can sense what others are feeling and I can heal injuries with a touch of my hand. It is also very convenient, my mother almost died when I was younger. He was attacked by a vengeful spirit and beaten very badly. It took me almost two days to heal all his wounds. I was exhausted afterwards."

 

Dean slid out of his bed and settled on the bed beside Sam.

 

"That is a neat gift. Can you heal diseases too?"

 

"Disease"?" Sam asked. "I don't understand."

 

"Sickness…you know when you get sick?"

 

Sam frowned; the words that Dean was saying were unfamiliar to him.

 

"I don't understand; what is sick?"

 

"You've never been sick?" Dean asked incredulously. "Don't you're people get sick?"

 

Sam shook his head.

 

"I have never heard that. I will ask mother, but I do not believe so. We grow old and eventually we go back into the earth, but in between, if we are not injured there is no sick."

 

"That's another thing. How old do your people get? My dad says that your mother could be anywhere from forty to one hundred years old."

 

Sam giggled covering his mouth with his hand.

 

"Do not say that to mother. He is very vain. He is forty-one years old not one hundred and he would get very angry if you said that to him."

 

Dean smiled, liking the way that Sam's eyes glowed with amusement at his mother's expense. Finally Sam continued.

 

"My father was older, but because he was half-human he would not have lived as long as mother and me, if the demon had not killed him."

 

Dean slid slowly out of the bed moving over to where Sam sat. The younger man looked up at him then grinned slyly. He moved over and Dean sat down. With a sigh Dean let his hand travel gently over Sam's arm, enjoying the feel of taut muscle and smooth, tanned skin. The Shadowen were attractive people, and seemed to be very physically fit. Of course, they walked everywhere they went, or moved through the shadows. Sam leaned back quickly stripping the t-shirt he wore over his head dropping it into the floor.

 

Dean cocked his head then dropped the towel he was wrapped in crawling onto the bed. Sam reached out hesitantly running his hand over the human's arm. With a smile Sam leaned forward.

 

"Will you…kiss…me again?"

 

Dean pulled Sam into his arms, brushing and hand over the Shadowen's smooth chest, letting his palm cup a small, firm breast. His mouth found Sam's lips, tongue brushing over the silky smooth skin. The Shadowen was warm, almost fever hot and Dean gasped when the younger man jumped him, taking him down flat on his back.

 

With a wicked grin Sam bit into Dean's shoulder and the older man grabbed both his hands flipping them over. He wrapped one leg around Sam's thighs forcing him down. With a growl Dean forced his tongue deep inside the younger man's mouth.

 

With a smile the Shadowen let his hands wander the broad expanse of the human's chest. He had never seen a man naked before, at least not this close and Sam was fascinated with the smooth golden skin pulled taut over hard muscle. He watched as Dean's abdomen jumped when Sam's fingers traced the ridges of muscle and fingered the faint line of blond hair that trailed down from Dean's navel to his groin.

 

Dean's cock was another source of fascination for the young Shadowen as well. That was one part of the human male that Sam had never seen before, even though he had witnessed two human's having sex in the woods several times over the years. They had been far enough away that he couldn't make out the details of their bodies.

 

Gently Sam grasped Dean's erection in his fingers, feeling the weight of the hard flesh in his palm. He gasped laughing nervously when the organ jumped in his hand. Dean placed his own hand, over Sam's guiding the younger man away from his body.

 

"You've never been with a man have you?"

 

Sam flushed shaking his head.

 

"I am only now old enough to be interested in that kind of thing. My mother has explained it all to me. I know the mechanics but it is true I have never experienced sex myself. I've seen animals mating though, so I do know what to do."

 

Grinning the younger man grasped Dean's cock again.

 

“I have never seen a man this close."

 

He leaned forward whispering conspiratorially, "But I have seen something like this. My mother has something that looks like this carved out of wood, sanded smooth and rubbed with oils so that it satiny and shiny. I think he... might have put it inside when he pleasured himself with his fingers."

 

Dean blushed.

 

"Well, that's way more than I ever needed to know about John. But it is kind of sexy. Too bad my Dad's…you know."

 

Sam pouted lower lip wobbling.

 

"You would have mated with my mother?"

 

"Well, he is hot," Dean said slyly, fighting to hide his grin. Sam pounced on him.

 

"You lie. You think I'm…sexy."

 

"Okay, okay. Yes I do think you're sexy, and I want you. But I don't want to hurt you. If you're not ready yet, I'm willing to take things slow."

 

Sam lay down putting his head on the human's shoulder. With his eyes closed Sam listened to the steady beating of the heart beneath his cheek.

 

"I may not be ready to breed but I am more than ready to join with you. I want this, I want you."

 

Dean's breath whispered across Sam's neck sending a shiver down his spine, "Good because I want you too."

 

With a little effort he rolled them over leaning in to kiss Sam again. The Shadowen's eyes were warm, glowing, in the soft lamplight and Dean slid down his long, lean body. The soft hair at Sam's center was wet, glistening with musky fluid and Dean dipped his tongue into the shimmering streaks, and the taste was sweet. Growling he pushed his hand's under Sam's thighs spreading him open so that his tongue could find the soft, silky folds of wet flesh.  Sam cried out when the first waves of pleasure washed over him. He whimpered pulling on Dean's shoulder's eager to be filled with his human lover's hard cock.

 

 

 

John rose from the bed, his eyes automatically adjusting to the darkened room, and slipped to the door separating his bedroom from his son's. He silently pushed the door open thrusting his head inside. In the dim light of the partially opened curtains he could see the bed beside the window was empty. The closer bed held the blanket swaddled form of his son, and the younger human man. John smiled, his son had chosen. It looked as if this new family would be welcoming two new additions soon.

 

 

 

The next morning the four men sat at a table in the restaurant. Bobby glanced around uncomfortably, apparently, even dressed in jeans and t-shirts the two Shadowen stood out in a crowd. It was as if people could sense the foreignness of the non-human beings. It didn’t help when the waitress accidentally dropped a glass and cut herself. Sam dropped to his knees and took the woman's hand gently in his, stroking his finger over the wound. In a few seconds the cut was completely healed. The waitress looked at the younger man's dark eyes shuddering. She pulled back, trying to be grateful but still wary. Sam looked hurt and Dean felt a deep rush of protectiveness welling up inside him. He pushed between the two helping Sam to his feet.

 

With a glare at the woman Dean wrapped an arm around the young Shadowen.

 

"He was only trying to help. You could remember that."

 

Bobby watched his son with the younger Shadowen. Then he glanced over at John. There was a gentle glow on his new mate's face, and he sighed. He knew instinctively that Sam was pregnant. Briefly he wondered how his life had spiraled out of control. He used to be the one who made things happen but somehow in the past few days he had lost control, he didn't know exactly when or where, but he knew it was true. Well, he had better plan on adding onto the house when they got back to Durham, with a new baby and a grandbaby on the way.

 

Sighing Bobby picked up his coffee cup watching as John tentatively tasted the coffee in his own cup, decaf at Bobby's insistence. The older Shadowen tried the hot liquid and found it to his liking. He offered Bobby a shy smile.

 

Bobby patted his lover's arm, "Before we get on the road back home I need to go by a friend's place here in Nebraska. You might have run across him, his name is Bill Harvelle. He has a farm here about but he also sells herbs for incantations."

 

John nodded.

 

"Yes I know them. They are one of the families that I trade with. It would be nice to say goodbye and let them know I am leaving."

 

Bobby nodded.

 

"Well, let's get on the road. We have a long way to go. "

 

Turning to his son the older human motioned to the door.

 

"You can follow me over and we'll leave for Durham from there."

John stared at the truck with a disgruntled look on his face. Bobby noticed the younger man's stiff posture and blatant hostility directed at the vehicle. He snickered. John whirled, advancing on the human as if he knew that his mate could read his dislike of the truck in his expression.

 

"Do we have to use this…thing…it is horrible."

 

Sighing Bobby patted John on the arm. He motioned to the shadowed corner of the parking lot.

 

"Well, I have to go by car. It's too far to walk. If you want to go through the shadows you can meet me there. But I'd really like it if we can go together."

 

John cocked his head; he understood that humans were more social creatures than Shadowen. He and Sam had virtually spent twenty years alone and it didn't trouble either one of them. But now, John reminded himself, yet again, he was mated to a human male was going to be mother to a half-human child. He would have to adapt.

 

Suddenly a smile broke across his face.

 

"I could take you through the shadows with me. Sam could take Dean.  I have traveled the human way will you try it my people's way?"

 

Bobby frowned glancing at the deeper shadows at the front of the hotel. It only seemed fair that he try the Shadowen's way of moving long distances, but he was hesitant. Then he shook himself; he should trust the other man. He trusted the Shadowen enough to make love to him, sleep beside him. Why not share this with him as well.

 

"Can you do that? Take a non-Shadowen through the shadows."

 

"Yes, we can transport someone, only one person, with us. I would like to take you to the Shadow Lands as well, when we are more settled."

 

Sam and Dean appeared at the door, walking over to their parents. Dean pulled his keys out but Bobby motioned his son over.

 

"John and I have been talking and me and him are going to travel to the Harvelle's place through the shadows. He says that Sam can take you too."

 

Sam nodded grinning broadly.

 

"Yes I would like to show you how we transport. I think you would find it interesting."

 

Dean offered his father a withering glare then plastered a big grin on his face.

 

"Oh yeah I'm sure that it will be different. Can we get back here?"

 

John shot him a look.

 

"I am certain that the Harvelle's have shadows at their farm. It works both ways; if we can go over there then we can come back here."

 

Bobby snorted out a laugh and now Dean shot his father a sideways glance, then flipped him off. Sam watched the interplay between the two human men and looked down at his hand. He copied the gesture that Dean had just made but Bobby quickly brushed his hand.

 

"Don't do that it means something rude. Just because Dean is a heathen doesn't mean you should imitate him."

 

Grinning Dean shrugged pulling Sam into a quick hug.

 

"Okay, so how do we do this thing?"

 

John walked to the shadowed edge of the building. Taking a deep breath he centered himself then reached out a hand for Bobby. The human quickly slid closer to his mate letting John's strong arms envelope him. They stepped into the shadows.

 

Bobby felt the warm breeze wafting over him as he and John stepped the last few feet from the hot asphalt to the coolness of the awning. The shadows slipped over them sheltering his face from the heat of the early morning sun.

 

Suddenly Bobby felt as if the ground had tilted abruptly. He felt like the world was sliding out from under him. Cold air swirled around his body, creeping up from his feet to the top of his head. He could see the building waver then fade from view.

 

The air around him was still, the sounds of traffic on the road faded away dropping Bobby into sudden silence. Stillness settled over him, not so much quiet but the absence of sound. Then the air fell away, and Bobby found himself submerged in a cold, still place with no light, no sounds, and no movement. He was drowning on dry land, the air leeched out of his lungs until he couldn't even gasp. He was in the vacuum of space, and he was alone.

 

Blindly Bobby reached out, desperately searching for John. Fear wrapped around him when he couldn’t feel the Shadowen's in his arms any longer. If he had had breath he would have screamed, but Bobby couldn't draw a breath in this dark, airless place.

 

Then as suddenly as he had lost John Bobby found him again. The other man was a warm, heavy weight with his arms wrapped tightly around him, and the cold air was suddenly infused with the heat of John's body. Bobby leaned into him, watching as the green grassy field that bordered on Bill and Ellen's house came into view. Gratefully his body pulled in a huge gulp of air and his lungs expanded, his nose filling with the soft, sweet scent of newly mown hay.

 

Staggering Bobby hobbled forward and bent over at the waist, gasping in a lungful of warm air. John stood behind him smiling serenely and the human wondered if that was what driving in the car had felt like to the Shadowen.

 

"Are you unwell?" Sam asked and Bobby jerked around staggering a few steps back in shocked silence. Dean was clinging to the younger Shadowen and Bobby wondered if his face was as pale and gray as his son's.

 

"No," Bobby said straightening up, glancing at the porch where Ellen and her daughter were standing looking at the four men with surprised faces.  Ellen recovered first looking from Bobby to the Shadowen then back again. She stepped off the porch and walked across the yard.

 

"John, I didn't expect you today, you usually only come on Wednesdays."

 

John cocked his head, he didn't know what Wednesday meant, but he assumed it was a human designation for the day that he did his trading. He always found it odd that humans seemed so absorbed by the passing of time that they gave the days names, even gave the cycles of the moon names. August was the name of the current cycle.  John knew them all, knew that the seasons were called spring, summer, autumn and winter. He only saw the changing days, longer and warmer or shorter and colder; sun, wind and rain. Sometimes he thought humans made things much more complicated than they needed to be. The sun would rise in the morning and set in the night even if the day had no name.

 

Ellen turned to Bobby.

 

"I didn't know that you knew the Shadow people and John in particular."

 

Bobby blushed.

 

"Well, yeah…uhm…we're married. Me and John."

 

Ellen's eyes went wide.

 

"Excuse me? Married how…why?"

 

John smiled broadly.

 

"I'm pregnant. Bobby is now my mate and the child's father."

 

That seemed to surprise Ellen even more than seeing the four of them pop out of the shadows.

 

"Holy crap, Bobby. Wait until Bill hears about this. I'm assuming you came by for those supplies."

 

"Yes ma'am. And for John here to say goodbye. We're going back to Durham to my folk's place, at least until the baby gets here."

 

Ellen motioned them to the house and the four men followed after her and Jo. Once they were settled in the living room she turned to the girl.

 

"Jo, go get your Daddy. Tell him Bobby Singer is here for his box."

 

Sam and Dean sat on one sofa watching as the young woman ran across the yard to the barn hollering for her father all the way. John looked at the big red painted structure and the two younger human men who were working loading hay into the upper floor.

 

Jo slid to a halt outside the double doors to the barn, searching inside for her father. She spotted Gordon and Ash forking hay up into the loft from the back of the open bed truck her father used for hauling.

 

"Hey, guys have you seen my Dad?" she asked. "Bobby's here. He brought them two Shadow people with him too."

 

Gordon smiled. "Really? Your folks seem to be awful friendly to them, even if they ain't human."

 

Jo frowned.

 

"Why shouldn't they be. The Shadowen are good, they helped humans in the war with the demons, and a lot of them help hunters, even now, tracking down and killing demons and other things."

 

"Is that why these things are traveling with Bobby and his son?" Ash asked slamming the pitchfork into the hay pile and wiping his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt. Jo shook her head.

 

"Nope, John and Bobby are married now. John's gonna have a baby, and its Bobby's. They're going back to Bobby's house so he came by to get the herbs and stuff that Daddy grew for him."

 

Gordon frowned.

 

"What do you mean they're going to Bobby's place? You mean that the Shadowen is leaving here. What about all the gems and gold he trades your folks for food?"

 

"I guess we'll have to get by without them. He always gave momma and daddy more than he should have. Daddy's got a big pile of them in the safe deposit box at the bank. I always thought it was neat the way John can turn any old rock into something valuable."

 

"Yeah, "Ash said, "It's really neat."

 

They watched as the girl headed out across the field to the drying shed where Bill kept the herbs and plants that he grew for incantations. As Jo disappeared into the shed Ash turned to his friend.

 

"If Bobby Singer takes the Shadowen off to his place we'll never get the chance to trade with him for gold and gems. We need to get a chance to talk to him alone."

 

 

John shifted in the seat uncomfortably. He had drunk a lot of coffee at the restaurant this morning.  Ellen noticed his discomfort and smiled at him.

 

"John do you need something?"

 

"I need the bathroom," he said quietly. Ellen motioned to the hall leading to the back of the house.

 

"Last door down on the left."

 

John found the bathroom with no trouble and emptied his bladder. He could see the barn and the two men who worked for the Harvelle's out the window. The dark skinned young man noticed John looking at them out the window and waved at him. Ash looked up then smiled moving toward the rear door of the house. Gordon frowned followed after his friend.

 

"What are you doing?" Gordon asked the other man. Ash waved him forward silencing him with a glare.

 

"You want a chance to get that monster to make gold and gems for us. This is it. If we wait he'll be gone, so we've got to get him to do it right now."

 

"But we don't have anything to trade for it. He won't just do it for us."

 

Ash sneered.

 

"He will if we make him. Look all we have to do is take him out of here. I know that there's a cabin that Bill uses when he goes fishing. It's right across the farm and on the lake. If we knock the Shadowen out, we can take him there. They can't take being in the light for a long time. If we keep the lights on day and night it'll wear him down and he'll do whatever we ask. And if we keep him locked in a room with the lights on all the time he can't get in the shadows to get away."

 

The two young men stood at the door waiting until the older of the two Shadowen came out of the house. John had seen the two humans working on the Harvelle's farm so he was familiar enough with them the he didn't feel threatened by them. Smiling John let the door fall closed behind him.

 

Ash approached the Shadowen holding a hand out as if he was approaching a wild animal. John snorted, but stood still trying to be as non-threatening as possible. Gordon watched the interplay between his friend and the non-human being wondering what Ash was planning.

 

"We don't usually see you here on Fridays. Did you forget something? Maybe me and Gordon here can help you find it."

 

John sighed shaking his head; he knew what these two young men wanted. He could see it in their eyes every time he made gold and precious stones for the Harvelle's' in trade for the food Ellen made for his family. These two young men were greedy. John didn't understand the concept of greed; the stones were just that stones, minerals. He knew that they had greater value to the humans than to his people and that was useful but other than that the stones meant nothing to him.

 

"I came to say goodbye, I am leaving with my mate and going to his home."

 

Gordon frowned.

 

"Your mate? The other Shadowen that you appear with?"

 

"No, that is my son. My mate is a human man, Bobby Singer."

 

The younger man's eyes widened.

 

"Bobby…well, damn. I didn’t think he'd ever get married again. Not after Anna died."

 

Ash shifted position, moving up behind the Shadowen.

 

"Uh…your son huh? Does he do the same thing that you do with the minerals and all?"

 

"Oh no, my son's gift is not the same. We are all different, Sam's father could work incantations, his gifts came from being half-human."

 

"So your people can breed with human beings?" Gordon said frowning at the other man behind John's back. Ash had picked up a large stick and raised it. Suddenly he brought the piece of wood down on John's head hard. The Shadowen grunted, hand flying to his head, then sagged down. Ash quickly grabbed his shoulders taking John's weight then snapped at the other human.

 

"Gordon, grab his legs let's get him into the truck."

 

"What the hell, Ash! Look I don't want to mess with him. And I sure as hell don't want to mess with Bobby Singer. That dude's crazy. If we hurt this one he'll be all over us."

 

Ash flinched.

 

"Just grab him. We'll take him to Bill's cabin over by the lake. We don't have to keep him long, just enough to get him to make us some gold and stuff. Then we'll take off and call Bobby let him know where to pick John up."

 

Ash and Gordon quickly hauled the Shadowen's limp form to the back of the flatbed truck that they used for hauling in hay from the fields. The back was open to the sun and in the mid-day there were no shadows on the truck bed. Ash wanted to be sure to keep the Shadowen in the sunlight so that he couldn’t escape in the shadows.

 

 

The cabin was bare, sparsely furnished and consisted of two rooms. The bedroom had one large window and Ash sat about nailing it shut from the outside as soon as he and Gordon had dropped the Shadowen's unconscious body onto the bed. Once the window was secured he quickly came back inside and told Gordon to tie John to the bed. The other man secured John's ankle to the iron bed with a piece of steel linked chain they had in the truck. Tucking the padlock key into his pocket Ash sat back in one of the wooden chairs from the table in the other room waiting for the Shadowen to wake up.

 

John came awake with a dull ache in his head, the heat of sunlight and bright incandescent lighting burning into his skin. He flinched as he struggled to rise. He was alone in a small room chained to a bed, but he could not find any comfort. The sunlight was streaming into the window, the curtains torn down and lying useless in the floor. And all the over head lights were on, casting a bright glare on every inch of the room.

 

One of the two young men who had been at the Harvelle's farm stood in the doorway. He was the lighter skinned man with longish hair. John moaned rubbing his temple.

 

"Please will you turn off some of the lights? It is very painful for me."

 

"Sorry, I don't want you going into the shadows. All you have to do is make some gold for me and Gordon then we'll call Bobby to come and get you."

 

John winced.

 

"Please, the light makes it difficult for me to concentrate. If you could just turn off the over head lights. The shadows wouldn't be deep enough for me to move through, not inside."

 

"No way," Ash snapped. He turned around as Gordon walked into the room. The other man handed his friend a double handful of granite rock and other small stones. Walking over to the bed Ash deposited the stones beside John. The Shadowen glared at the young human.

 

"If I refuse?" John said with a defiant stare. The human stepped forward and slapped John hard across the face. Gordon flinched, grabbing Ash's hand.

 

"You don't have to hurt him. He'll do it, won't you, so that Ash won't have to hit you?"

 

"I'm pregnant; how could you do that…endanger my unborn child."

 

Ash grunted.

 

"You're a man…"

 

John shook his head.

 

"I am not human. If you keep me in the lights it will hurt my baby."

 

"Then you'd better do as you're told and get this done so Gordon and me can leave. I'm going to get more granite."

 

Gordon followed the other man outside waving at the cabin.

 

"Goddammit, Ash. If he is pregnant then you know it's Bobby's. Man if we hurt his kid…all the gold in the world can't do us any good if we're dead."

 

"We aren't gonna hurt him or that kid. He's probably lying about the light hurting him so we turn 'em off. He could get in the shadows that way and get away. We'll just keep him here a couple of days and get as much gold and stuff as we can. Then we'll phone Bill and tell them where he is."

 

John groaned lying back against the wrought iron headboard. His head ached and he felt hot, the light was pounding on him sending hot spikes of agony up his spine.  Finally, summoning all the energy he could muster John began picking up the rocks pressing them against his palms. The heat of the minerals changing structure only added to his misery, but he kept up until all the stones that the human had brought were changed to gold and gems.

 

Ash and Gordon reappeared grinning at the sight of the pile of gold and gems on the bed. John was staring listlessly at the sunlight streaming through the window. He turned toward the young men.

 

"Please can I have some water?"

 

Gordon went into the kitchen running a glass of water from the tap and bringing it back to the bedroom. Ash intercepted him taking the glass. He held it out as the other man scooped the gold up and Ash dropped another pile of stones on the bed. John held out a hand for the water but Ash pulled it back.

 

"You want this?' he asked with a smile.

 

The Shadowen nodded tiredly.

 

"Fine, you change all those stones and I'll give you the water."

 

John picked up the stones trying to concentrate. His entire body ached and he trembled with the effort. His skin was ashy gray and Gordon thought that John might collapse from the effort of changing the new pile of stones. Finally he was done. The gems were not a clear as the others, poorer in quality and the granite was only half changed, large veins of gold running through the stone.

 

With a snarl Gordon snatched the water glass from Ash and held it up so that John could drink. He swallowed the water gratefully, the cool liquid dampening down the heat of the lights. Ash scrabbled through the pile of stones on the bed then turned to John with a sneer.

 

"These aren't as good as the first ones. They won't bring much on the market. You'd better do better the next time."

 

John glared.

 

"What I gave you the first time was worth a considerable amount of money. I do know that. I can't function in the lights. It is draining my energy. If you would just turn off the lights give me some rest, I can do better."

 

 

Bobby finished talking to Ellen Harvelle then glanced around the room. Sam and Dean were talking to Jo in the corner. But John was nowhere to be found. The older man scratched at his cheek then looked at the woman.

 

"Ellen, where's John?"

 

"He asked about the bathroom then didn't come back. I just assumed that he had gone outside. Maybe back to the cabin he and Sam lived in?"

 

Bobby rose quickly.

 

"He wouldn't have just gone without saying something. Sam, can you go back to the place where you and your mother lived. Tell me if he's there?'

 

Sam nodded.

 

"We need to go outside. The shadows inside a structure rarely are deep enough for us to transport through. If we go into the yard the shadows beneath the trees will be dark enough."

 

 

Sam faded into the shadows just beyond the small cabin he and his mother had occupied for most of his life. He glanced around at the still interior. A thin layer of dust had settled on the wooden furniture in the two days that Sam and his mother had been absent. He quickly went back to his room then across the hall to his mother's bedroom.  He frowned, the cabin was empty, no sign that anyone had been there at all.

 

Bobby, Ellen and Dean were waiting in the yard when the younger Shadowen appeared in the shadows beside the house. Sam shook his head indicating that John was not at the cabin they had called home.

 

A noise distracted the three humans and they all turned toward the driveway. Bill Harvelle's blue pick-up truck pulled up beside the people gathered in his yard. He grinned at Bobby recognizing the man right away and turned toward his son. The younger man he thought he might have known then belatedly realized that he was the Shadowen's son, Samuel.

 

Bill slid out of the truck frowning at the still opened barn doors.

 

"Didn't those idiots close up the barn before they took off?' he asked no one in particular.

 

Ellen frowned looking at her husband.

 

"You mean Ash and Gordon?"

 

"Yeah I saw them in the flatbed driving out on Haney Road this afternoon."

 

Dean slapped his fist into the palm of his hand.

 

“They have him, Dad. It was those two who took John. You said it yourself John's gift puts him in danger."

 

Bobby turned on Bill.

 

"You said Haney Road, out toward the lake? Why would your hired men be driving out there?"

 

"I don't know unless they were going to the cabin."

 

Bobby seized on that.

 

"Cabin? You still own that fishing cabin on the lake front."

 

 

Bill's truck skidded to a halt outside the front door of the old cabin that had belonged to his grandfather. The front door was open but even in the late afternoon sun he could see that every light in the place was on. Bobby jumped out of the truck while Dean and Sam leaped over the side of the truck bed.

 

Sam was the first in the door and he flinched at the heat of the incandescent lights. Dean noticed and reached behind him to flip off the switch. Bobby was in the door and through the room before his son could move.

 

"John!" Bobby shouted, hauling the bedroom door open. His face paled at the sight of his spouse laying face down on the bed. Quickly Bobby turned off the lights noting in relief that the sunlight from the window was pale and didn't reach the bed.

 

He ran over to the bed lifting John up. The Shadowen’s skin was ashy gray, t-shirt and jeans soaked in sweat, and his skin was burning hot to the touch. Bobby motioned Dean to the other room.

 

"Bring me some water."

 

Sam settled on the bed beside his mother.

 

"Bobby please let me look at him."

 

Carefully Sam loosened the buttons on the jeans and bent down to strip off his mother's boots and socks. He ran a hand over John's face then cringed.

 

"Bobby, he isn't breathing."

 

Sam sat on the bed holding his mother’s hand. John’s face was still waxy, and sickly gray in the dim room. Bobby was pacing beside the bed his expression twisted with rage and grief. Swallowing hard Dean slid close to his father putting a silent hand on his shoulder. They may not have been expecting it but he could see that his father loved John, and the baby he was carrying. He flinched as Sam made a low keening sound pressing his hands against John’s chest.

 

The two humans watched as the younger Shadowen brushed his hands over John’s chest, then face, taking a deep breath. Dean silently wondered if this was their way of grieving, if John was dead. Then suddenly Sam gasped as if coming up for air after being too long under water. John’s body trembled and his chest rose drawing in a sharp harsh breath.

 

Bobby uttered a half-strangled moan and Dean was ready to force his father from the room if he had to when he looked at the bed. John’s eyes were open, and he offered his son a tired smile. Dean’s knees went a little weak as his father’s weight rested heavily against him.  He was sure that the only thing holding Bobby upright was Dean himself. Bobby took a hesitant step forward. Sam rose from the bed letting the human sit down.

 

Gently Bobby took John’s hand.

 

"Are you okay? Do I need to take you to the hospital?”

 

“No, I am better. I just shut myself down for a few moments to spare the baby from becoming ill from light poisoning. Sam pulled me back into myself. We are well.”

 

“We?” Bobby asked, and then placed a hand on John’s still flat belly. “You mean you and the baby?”

 

The raw need in those few words set Dean’s teeth on edge. If he had had any doubts about his father wanting this relationship with the older Shadowen they vanished. John nodded, and Bobby closed his eyes. With more strength than Bobby would have credited the other man John pulled him down.

 

“Lay with me.”

 

Sam smiled seizing Dean by the hand and tugging him quickly out of the room. He paused only long enough to pull the door closed behind them then corner Dean, pressing against him. Dean groaned as Sam’s long slender fingers found their way to the fly of his jeans. The strong digits caressing him made the human shudder.

 

“Don’t, I can’t stand it. Your mother is sick; we should concentrate on that.”

 

Sam giggled.

 

“I am...my mother will lay with your father, draw strength from their bond. And we can nurture my mother by letting him draw strength from our bond as well.”

 

 

 

John pressed himself against his mate’s broad chest fingers tugging at the buttons on his shirt. Bobby leaned back just enough to pull the shirt off dropping it on the floor.

 

“I don’t know if we should be doing this now.”

 

“I need it. I can take strength from you, when we join physically the bond between us will give me the strength I need to heal. It will be beneficial for the baby as well. He will feel your life energy when we make love.”

 

Flinching Bobby looked down at John’s now bare abdomen.

 

“You mean the baby knows when we...when I put my... When we’re together.”

 

With a tired chuckled John nodded.

 

“You look so scandalized. Of course our son knows when his father is joined with his mother. It takes love from us both to sustain and nurture him.”

 

“But does he...our son know that I’m sticking my dick in you?”

 

John cocked his head; he assumed that dick was a human word for penis. The name struck him as funny and he laughed. Bobby was looking at him as if he was insane.

 

“No he doesn’t know that you’re sticking your...dick... in me.” John whispered. Just saying the word made him feel vaguely naughty, and his face flushed. “He doesn’t know the mechanics, but he knows when the positive energy around him doubles.”

 

“Well, if it’s for the baby. I think I can manage,” Bobby replied.

 

John shot him a look. He could feel the love for this man welling up inside him. John rose up and pressed his lips against his mate’s sighing deep in this throat when Bobby’s hands moved over body sending spikes of arousal coursing though him.

 

 

In the living room Dean pressed Sam down on the floor, the rough wool rug cushioning the younger man’s back. With a grunt Dean kissed his way down Sam’s chest lingering over his belly. He wondered if Sam was pregnant. The younger Shadowen might not know yet, might not be able to tell this early, unlike his mother.

 

When Dean thrust up and into Sam the younger man cried out. The pleasure swept over him wrapping around him like ropes binding him to this human man. He grunted legs coming up around Dean’s waist seeking any way to force his lover’s penis deeper inside.

 

“Oh yeah...god yes,” Dean murmured, rocking against Sam, fingers twining in the longish hair pulling the Shadowen in for another long kiss. “Oh god, I don’t know what the hell you’re doing to me but never stop. Sam...god I love you.”

 

“Yes,” Sam whispered. “You are everything to me, my day and my night. I never want to be without you for the rest of my life.”

 

 

 

John moaned as his mate thrust into his body with an almost mindless desperation. Raking his fingers down the man’s back he was sure that he was leaving scratch marks behind. Bobby flinched then slid one hand under John’s ass pulling him off the bed as much as possible, anything to get deeper inside. John could feel the tendrils of energy winding their way out of his lover’s body and into his own. He gathered them up, taking them into himself weaving a warm nest around the tiny bud of life in his belly.

 

“You are loved little one, feel how much your father loves you, how much he loves me,” John whispered in his own tongue.

 

Bobby heard the soft sounds coming from his mate. He couldn’t understand the words but the meaning was clear enough. Groaning his back arched as John convulsed beneath him. Every contraction of John’s body was like a volcanic eruption pulling Bobby’s orgasm out of him in hot waves. He grunted each as each spurt shot out of him like molten metal.

 

 

It was almost midnight when they finally traveled back to the hotel. The humans were grateful that traveling through the shadows the second time was less frightening. The older man left John tucked snugly in bed asleep, and then crept silently in the hall. He tapped on the door to the other bedroom, and Dean opened it. Bobby could see Sam asleep in bed, but like him, Dean was dressed.

 

Bobby motioned his son into the hall with a brief wave of one hand. Dean pulled the door closed behind him turning to his father. But Bobby took his arm, holding him back.

 

“Dean, what I’m going to do, you don’t need to be a part of.”

 

“Like I’d ever leave you to do this by yourself.”

 

“This ain’t like just any hunt, boy. These two aren’t demons or werewolves.”

 

“I’d say they don’t count as human either. What they did to John, even knowing he was pregnant. It wasn’t right. And I’m not leaving you to do this alone, Dad.”

 

“Just the same I’m willing to bet they took off,” Bobby said quietly.

 

Dean shrugged.

 

“They’d have been stupid not too. But I know where they’re likely to be headed. Bill said that the one guy, Gordon, has people in Lincoln. If they went anywhere I’m betting on that to be the first place.”

 

Nodding grimly Bobby followed Dean to the parking lot. They reached Bobby’s truck, and he slid behind the wheel waiting patiently for is son to climb inside.  The truck pulled out of the parking lot.

 

From the window of the hotel room John watched as his mate and his step-son drove away. He knew where they were going and what they intended to do. He supposed he should feel badly about it, but he couldn’t muster any sympathy for those two young men. They had put the life of his unborn child at risk. They had hurt him, he smiled in satisfaction. His mate would right that wrong. They may be human but Bobby and Dean understood the Shadowen ways more than they knew.

 

 

It was a two hour drive to Lincoln from the hotel, but Bobby turned the police scanner he had in the truck all the way up and tuned into the highway patrol. When he got a good lead on where the prowlers were this late at night he cranked the speed up and the big black truck ate up the miles to the city.

 

They rolled into Lincoln just after two thirty. It was cool, the night air crisp with a hint of moisture. The address that he had gotten from Bill Harvelle was written in his journal and Bobby nudged the book across the seat to Dean. His son picked it up flipping through the twenty-plus years of clippings, photographs and notes his father had recorded on the yellowing pages. At the back was the most recent entry, in dark blue ink. He looked at the words dancing on the surface of the page.

 

“Dean, if you don’t want to be involved in this. I won’t hold it against you.”

 

The younger man looked at his father.

 

“Dad if I didn’t want to be involved in this I wouldn’t be here. You know that. If they hurt John they hurt you, and I won’t put up with anyone hurting my family.”

 

Bobby nodded.

 

“All the same we got to be careful on this one. More careful than usual, ‘cause I won’t have you going to jail over this thing.”

 

Dean sighed flipping the journal open again. He glanced out the window at the nearly empty streets. There was a faint hazy glow of fog around the harsh yellow of the street lights. At this late hour there were only a few places still open, movie theaters, one or two fast food places and bars.

 

Shifting on the seat the younger man looked out the window at the flashing neon signs.

 

"How do you know that Gordon and Ash even came to his family's place?"

Shrugging Bobby grunted.

 

"I don't for sure. But it's pretty much human nature to seek out the familiar in times of stress. That's one of the things that makes tracking ghosts or spirits, hell even zombies, so easy. Why do you think so many hauntings take place in houses or at the place of death? A ghost is still human, keeps some shred of human nature. They seek the familiar."

 

"Makes sense, Dad. You aren't really gonna kill them are you?" Dean asked.

 

But the look on his father's face shut him up immediately. Ash and Gordon were in a world of hurt and they didn't even know it.

 

 

As it turned out Bill Harvelle had a very good memory for automobiles, and he described Gordon's 1973 Plymouth Duster down to the rally stripe on the side. Being a mechanic and classic car buff himself Bobby knew that the paint job Bill described to him was a custom job and that made the car very easy to track. It was the same thing that made Bobby leery of his son driving the old Chevy Impala that Bobby had given him in high school. But the car had been a favorite of Dean's mother and neither man wanted to give it up.

 

The big, black truck eased up one street and made a left turn. They were cruising the last of the bars on Beal Street when they saw the Plymouth at the very back of the lot in front of Big Jim's. There was no mistaking the paint job. Bobby pulled the truck into the lot and parked beside the front door, so that the two younger men would be sure to see them coming. With a quick flick of his gaze over the plate glass window Dean watched as his father tucked the .45 he carried into the waist band of his jeans and pulled his flannel shirt over it.

 

The bar was almost empty, a grey haze of smoke circling lazily around the room. The bar tender shot them a funny look as Bobby and Dean walked in the door. Bobby didn't bother glancing around the room he stalked to the bar jerking the old man across the shiny wood surface and jerked a thumb at the side parking lot.

 

"Where's them two boys that came in the Plymouth?"

 

 

The solitary patron left sitting in the darkened room shuffled as if to come to the bartender's aid, but Dean tugged his jacket aside enough to show him the Glock in his pants and the guy held up his hands sitting back down. The bartender looked annoyed then hooked a thumb over his shoulder toward the rear door.

 

Dean nodded and slipped out the front door and around the corner of the building. Bobby watched his shadow cross the window then pushed past the bartender and through the storeroom to the rear door. Ash and Gordon had gone out the back because the door was still hanging on the hinges, and Bobby could see the faint shadows of the younger men disappearing down the alley. He smiled; he had driven around the block and knew that the alley was a dead end. A tall chain-link fence with barbed wire at the top blocking the exit.

 

 

Bobby met Dean at the mouth of the alley, walking slowly into the darkness. He could hear the clattering footfalls of the two men they were hunting come to a sudden halt. They would be lying in wait, but that didn't matter. With a grunt Bobby searched the boxes and bins just behind the bar's rear door. He lifted a ripped seat cushion from one of the bins and pressed it against his hip as he continued his way down the alley.

 

Ash and Gordon were standing at the dead end of the dirty asphalt. Dean wasn't sure if the two men had guns. He didn't see a weapon but that meant nothing. Still it was highly unlikely. They weren't hunters, just farm hands. And considering that they probably knew that he and his father were not interested in working out an amenable solution to this little fiasco, if the two did have a gun they'd be shooting right about now.

 

The silence hung in the air, both Ash and Gordon were milling around looking at the chain-link fence like it was the gate to hell. With a hiss Gordon raised a hand, a shit-eating grin on his dark face.

 

"Now look Bobby, we didn't mean to hurt him. He was okay when we left."

 

Bobby cocked his head smiling softly.

 

"You boys messed where you shouldn't ought to have messed."

 

Ash pushed around Gordon eyeing the side of the alley as if trying to gauge whether or not he could make it past the older man. Gordon dropped back letting Ash go, and Bobby could tell that the younger man thought that if the hunter turned his attention to the other man he'd forget all about Gordon. Bobby smiled slowly, as Dean edged out of the darkness blocking Ash's feeble attempts as escape.

 

Ash turned from father to son then grimaced.

 

"Look Bobby it was a mistake."

 

"Yep, the worst damn mistake you've ever made. Looks like I get to make sure you never make another one."

 

With a calculated stare Gordon eased forward hands still raised.

 

"Look you know that John ain't human. How'd you think he'd feel about this, about knowing you killed us in cold blood? Shadowen are big on nature and shit, he may not forgive you."

 

"You're barking up the wrong tree, boy. I made it a point to learn all about the Shadowen during the first war with the demons, just to be sure we could trust 'em. They believe in an eye for an eye. John knows I came here. I'm just wondering if he'll want me to take a couple of body parts back just so he knows I got it done right for him."

 

Bobby pushed his cap back on his head watching as the younger man decided if he wanted to rush Dean or not. With a shrug he continued,

 

"A few years back some good ole boys in Durham ran across a Shadowen, beat him up and raped him. When his family found out. Let's just say they never found all the pieces."

 

Against all better judgment Ash chose that particular time to make a run for it. Lunging at Dean he shoved a crate over and made a dash up the alley toward the bar. Bobby shoved the seat cushion against the barrel of the gun to muffle the shot and squeezed the trigger. Ash's body jumped once as a bright crimson flower blossomed on his chest. His legs still twitching as the younger man fell. Before Gordon could even think about moving Dean stepped over Ash's body and flicked the switch-blade he carried in his jacket pocket tossing it underhand. The knife glinted in the pale silver moonlight before it was buried in the other man's throat. Hissing as blood gurgled over his lips Gordon seized the hilt of the knife and tugged, a good chunk of flesh came out with it and he stared at his hands as if he had never seen them before then collapsed against the fence, sliding to the ground. Dean knelt briefly and jerked the knife out of Gordon's hand tucking it away regardless of the gore clinging to the metal.

 

The two men skirted the rear of the bar and walked slowly to the truck. Bobby pulled out onto the road without a backward glance. He flicked a glance at his son.

 

"We should be back at the hotel before dawn."

 

Dean nodded.

 

"Pull into the next gas station you pass and get me the key to the restroom. I don't want to be caught smelling like a slaughterhouse."

 

"Fair enough. I'll call John, tell him we're on the way back."

 

"Do you suppose he'll answer the phone? He might not have seen one before."

 

Bobby nodded.

 

"I've been telling about things like that. You should probably go over it with Sam too. Now that we both are gonna be daddies, we got to think about things like getting the little ones educated."

 

Shooting his father a look Dean grunted.

 

"How do you figure that Sam is pregnant? I don't even know for sure."

 

"I don't know either, but if he's anything like his mama he is now or will be soon."

 

Bobby sighed looking at Dean and grinning to himself. Dean looked at his father skeptically.

 

"What?"

 

"Well hell, if there's one thing that I have figured out about John; it's that he sure does love to fuck."

 

John was sitting in a chair beside the window when he heard the now familiar sound of the engine of Bobby's truck in the parking lot of the hotel. He could hear the soft sounds the two humans made as they got out of the truck, closed the doors and stood on the landing talking quietly for a few minutes.

 

The sky was just beginning to grow light in the east and the Shadowen could feel the pull of the sun telling his body it was time to rise and go about his business, but John was weary more so now that he was certain that he was pregnant. So he waited for his mate to bid his son goodnight and come in.

 

Bobby's face was set, still and he looked bone-tired to John as well. Rising quickly the Shadowen hurried to his mate's side helping him ease the jacket from his shoulders. Bobby's skin was cool to the touch and John realized the two men must have tracked the young humans down. He didn't have to ask what had happened it was written plainly in the lines on his mate's face.

 

"I did not mean to ask you to do something that would cause you distress," John said guiltily looking down at the floor. Bobby sighed sliding his fingers under the younger man's chin lifting his face up so that he could look into his eyes. He smiled.

 

"You didn't ask for anything, certainly not to be treated that way. What I did, I did of my own free will and I'd do it again as many times as necessary to make sure that you and our son stay safe. I love you, John, don't ever doubt that."

 

John felt a shiver crawl the length of his spine. Just to hear the raw need in the man's rough voice sent a raging heat searing its way through his body right into his soul. He moaned closing his eyes. "I love you as well."

 

"If it's not your people's way to say that don't feel…"

 

"No, your heart will never be far from mine. I chose well."

 

"You chose? I thought this all came from your being in heat."

 

John flushed then offered his mate a lopsided grin, "Well, I came to you that day knowing that I was full in season and that no male that came in contact with me would be able to keep from coming into my body. But I made sure that it would be you. I wanted it to be you."

 

Laughing Bobby pulled John into his arms, "You sneaky bastard. And now you know you have me wrapped around your little finger with a snowball's chance in hell of getting away or even wanting to get away."

 

Smiling John pulled his mate along after him until thy tumbled onto the bed. Bobby fell heavily rolling onto his back and pulling John over with him. With a grunt he shuffled around until his shoes hit the floor. They lay pressed close together John's head resting on the human's broad chest. Bobby's finger found his mate's soft curls.

 


End file.
